Frost: A Novel
by: Thomas Bernhard with Michael Hofmann, translator
Published by: Vintage International
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Reviewed by Edith Knehans
To the literary community, the name “Frost” conjures up thoughts of the beloved poet, Robert Frost. Gentle, intuitive poetry flowed forth from Frost, poetry that speaks to the essence of the human soul. However, the mere mention of the word “frost” can also bring thoughts of winter chill and cold ponderings. The latter frost is the frost we are confronted with in the novel Frost by Thomas Bernhard.
Seething in its depths of visual acuity and disturbing reality, Frost explores the friendship between a young man just starting his medical career and a painter who is in his ending days. The young man has accepted an odd assignment: travel to a mining town in order to examine and report upon his mentor’s brother, the painter known as Strauch. Strauch, a hermit in his own right, is meticulously observed by the student, posing here as a law student in order to gain the trust of this eccentric painter.
The first line of the story says it best: “A medical internship consists of more than spectating at complicated bowel operations, cutting open stomach linings, bracketing off lungs, and sawing off feet….” These words are a fitting introduction to the rest of the young man’s adventure in a difficult reality experienced by those on the brink of madness.
The poet Frost once wrote: “It’s when I’m weary of considerations/And life is too much like the pathless wood/When your face burns with the tickle of cobwebs/Broken across it, and one eye is weeping….” This simple excerpt from Frost’s Birches succinctly expresses the emotion one is left with in this literary exploration of human nature.
Armchair Interviews says: Thought-provoking read.
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